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Lesson Plan Lise Meitner, Austrian Nuclear Physicist

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Lesson Plan Lise Meitner, Austrian Nuclear Physicist Lesson Plan Lise Meitner, Austrian Nuclear Physicist Image courtesy of the AIP Emilio Segré Visual Archives Grade Level(s): 6-12 Subject(s): History, Physics In-Class Time: 60-120 Minutes Prep Time: 15-45 minutes Materials • A/V equipment • Photocopies of research worksheets (available in Supplemental Materials) Objective Students will learn about the professional and personal challenges faced by Lise Meitner and other female physicists in the mid-20th century. Introduction Lise Meitner is one of the most famous female physicists. She is often remembered for contributing theories that made the atomic bomb possible and for being snubbed by the Nobel Prize committee. However, there is much more to this pioneering physicist; Meitner herself would have objected to the controversy being her main legacy. This lesson will teach students about Meitner’s dedication, accomplishments, and struggles. This lesson plan can be used in conjunction with AIP’s “Fair or Unfair: Should these women have received the Nobel Prize too?” teaching guide, which allows students to study this controversy. Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP 1 Instructions/Activities Before class: Assign the supplementary research worksheet on Lise Meitner. This assignment can be completed as homework before class or become an in-class assignment depending on the availability of research resources. Some resources are listed in the biographical materials section of “Further Reading and Additional Resources” later in this lesson plan. Engage: 5-10 minutes The lesson will begin with a short discussion of the research worksheet. Ask the students what they learned and what questions they still have about the Nobel Prize and women scientists. What is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? Facilitate students in a short discussion of Engage in the conversation and share answers for answers of the worksheet questions. Students’ each question. All students should have the answers should be based on factual information, opportunity to participate in the discussion. but the questions are written to be relatively open-ended, and multiple answers are expected for each question. Encourage comments on aspects of Meitner’s life that were surprising or unexpected. Explore: 25 minutes Show chapter 11/12 of NOVA’s Einstein’s Big Idea (2005) (located approximately 1:24:00-1:44:00). This video can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4vDGTYTCLo What is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? Encourage students to actively consider the ways Take notes on the ways Meitner is depicted in in which Meitner and her collaborators are the video versus their research. depicted in the video as compared to their research before class. Explain: 25 minutes Have a discussion of student observations of the NOVA video versus their biographical research. This discussion should focus on both similarities and differences in content, as well as a comparison of the two different types of media (video and internet/book sources). What is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? Lead a conversation that compares aspects of the Participate in answering questions and critically video’s depiction of Meitner to the facts that comparing the video to the readings and students found in their prior research. Possible worksheet answers. discussion questions include: 1. How do Meitner’s biographies compare to her depiction in the video? 2. How did her obstacles as a girl growing up in turn-of-the-century Vienna affect her growth as a scientist? Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP 2 3. What challenges did Meitner face in the workplace? 4. What sacrifices did Meitner make for her work? 5. How would you characterize Meitner’s relationships with her male collaborators, namely Otto Hahn and Otto Frisch? 6. What factors prevented Meitner from achieving the same level of recognition as her colleagues? 7. What are the possible reasons behind Otto Hahn’s Nobel Prize not being jointly awarded to him and Meitner? 8. What effects did World War II have on Meitner’s career? Possible answers are available in the Supplemental Materials to this lesson. Elaborate: 10-60 minutes Extend discussion of video topics. For a longer lesson, utilize this time to complete a laboratory activity related to Meitner’s work. What is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? 1. If any important aspects of Meitner’s life were 1. Continue to participate in a discussion of left out of the discussion of the video, use this overlooked aspects of Meitner’s life or listen time to bring them up and include them in the attentively to the teacher adding information discussion. to the discussion. 2. Good sources for examples of class activities 2. Active participation in a hands-on activity (middle and high school) related to nuclear related to Meitner’s work. physics and radiation • The Society of Physics Students created an activity to explain nuclear fission using marbles, mousetraps, and ping pong balls: Lesson 3: Nuclear Fission • Also, http://www.nuclearconnect.org/in- the-classroom/for-teachers/classroom- activities has several activities designed to teach about atomic interactions and nuclear fission. Evaluate: There are several ways to evaluate participation in this lesson, including: Graded research worksheet: Students turn in their research worksheet for grading. Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP 3 Write-up on Meitner: From information taken in from initial research assignment as well as in-class activities, have students write a 1 or 2-page summary of the information they have gathered about Meitner and her importance. Lab report: If a scientific activity is incorporated into the lesson, students can submit either individual or group lab reports on the completed activity. Required/Recommended Reading and Resources Video: NOVA’s Einstein’s Big Idea (2005): Chapter 11 of 12 (located approximately 1:24:00-1:44:00) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/einstein-big-idea.html Discussion Questions 1. How do Meitner’s biographies compare to her depiction in the video? 2. How did her obstacles as a girl growing up in turn-of-the-century Vienna affect her growth as a scientist? 3. What challenges did Meitner face in the workplace? 4. What sacrifices did Meitner make for her work? 5. How would you characterize Meitner’s relationships with her male collaborators, namely Otto Hahn and Otto Frisch? 6. What factors prevented Meitner from achieving the same level of recognition as her colleagues? 7. What are the possible reasons behind Otto Hahn’s Nobel Prize not being jointly awarded to him and Meitner? 8. What effects did World War II have on Meitner’s career? Possible answers are available in the Supplemental materials to this lesson plan. Further Reading and Additional Resources Meitner and Frisch’s first publication regarding fission: • Meitner, Lise, and Otto Robert Frisch. "Disintegration of uranium by neutrons: a new type of nuclear reaction." Nature 143, no. 3615 (1939): 239-240. Article s on Meitner’s personal views of women and academia (both of these articles are included in the supplemental materials): • Meitner, Lise. “Looking Back.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 20 (1964): 2-7. • Meitner, Lise. “The status of women in the professions.” Physics Today 13 (1960): 16-21. Articles regarding the Nobel Prize controversy: • Crawford, Elisabeth, Ruth Lewin Sime and Mark Walker. “A Nobel tale of wartime injustice.” Nature 382 (1996) 393-395. (found at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v382/n6590/pdf/382393a0.pdf) Prepared by the Center for History of Physics at AIP 4 • Crawford, Elisabeth, Ruth Lewin Sime and Mark Walker. “A Nobel tale of postwar injustice.” Physics Today 50, no. 9 (1997): 26-32. (found here: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/article/50/9/10.1063/1.881933) Biographical materials: • Byers, Nina and Gary Williams, eds. Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010. • Frisch, Otto Robert. “Lise Meitner.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 16 (1970): 405-420. (biography written by her nephew and colleague) • AIP Oral History interview of Otto Frisch by Charles Weiner, 5/3/1967: (discusses his relationship with Lise Meitner) https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4616 • Aczel, Amir D. Uranium Wars: The Scientific Rivalry that created the Nuclear Age. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. • Hahn, Otto. Otto Hahn: A Scientific Autobiography. Translated and edited by Willy Ley. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1966. • McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch. Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2001. (Chapter 2) • Rife, Patricia. Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age. Boston: Birkhaeuser, 1999. pgs 357-376. • Shearer, Benjamin and Barbara Shearer. Notable Women in the Physical Sciences: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997. • Sime, Ruth Lewin. “The Discovery of Protactinium.” Journal of Chemical Education 63 (1986): 653-657. • Sime, Ruth Lewin. Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996. • Sime, Ruth Lewin. “Lise Meitner and the Discovery of Nuclear Fission.” Scientific American 278 (1998): 80-85. • Sime, Ruth Lewin. “Lise Meitner’s escape from Germany.” American Journal of Physics 58 (1990): 262-267. Extensions Related AIP Teacher’s Guides on Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences:
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